The Importance of Disconnecting

As technology improves at what seems like a monthly basis, it is important to remember two things.  1.) it is important in today's society and 2.) it is important to step away occasionally.  Yes, there are drawbacks to having this instant access, but there is also upside.  It is nice to know what is going on in the world at any given moment, but it creates this addiction to instant information.  Which can be harmful at times.  Or just downright frustrating.  I mean, how many times have we seen a news story retracted or revised because not all the facts are out or right, but the story is already all over the internet?  

This is not only the lifestyle that the younger generations are growing up with, it is the lifestyle that the older generations have to adapt to.  By the time the evening news is reporting a story that happened in the early afternoon, it's already considered an old story.  If something happened at noon on a Tuesday, by three o'clock, all the details have come out and we are on to the next new story.  You have to keep up or you are left in the news dust.  

It's funny how older generations look at the younger generations right now in the way that they are always on their phones.  They look at them as though they are disconnected from the world, whereas they are more connected than the previous generation.  We no longer have to wait for the 5:00 news to find out what is happening.  We can make fun of people taking selfie after selfie after selfie all we want, but they carry in the palm of their hands, instant access to everything everywhere and any given moment.  It allows them to have that instant connection, and with that, more awareness of worldly events.  They can know what is going on in Switzerland if they want.  So even though they are staring at their phone screens all day long, they could be keeping up on current events.  Either that or they are reading list posts from Buzzfeed.  Is this a good thing though?  Personally, I spend most of my lunch break on my phone.  Reading articles, catching up on Facebook and Twitter.  It allows me to know what is going on.  Even though I work pretty early in the morning, the world still turns and important things are still happening.

With all that said, it is important to disconnect from it all.  Let's face it, we live in a pretty fucked up society, and terrible stories are what a lot of the media thrive upon.  When was the last time you watched the news and they only reported stories that made you happy?  When was the last time you went through a news site that didn't have at least two articles written about an awful story?  With all this instant access and continual updates, it can wear on you mentally.  Find a topic that you are interested in.  Read all about it.  Continue to read all about it.  How much is too much?  How long before anything that you are reading isn't sinking in?  It's like going to a lecture.  How much information can you take in before you stop hearing anything that is being said.  Same holds true for what you read.  How many stories of bombings in the Middle East can you read before it just turns into 'another story'.  How many stories of innocent people being killed by police can you read before you start forgetting their names? 

Sure, you can step away from it all for an hour or two, but what good would that do for you?  I suppose it depends on how much you can take in.  Whenever I go home for vacation, I always feel refreshed by the time I get back to work.  It's because I have minimum stress on vacation.  Everyone needs to do that with the internet too.  Take a few days off.  Stay off social media.  Stay away from the shit storm that is the world.  Pick up a book and forget about it all.  It is important for your mental health.  Even if you don't think you need to, do it.  Stop hitting the refresh button on your browser and it the power off button instead.